


Newspaper Boy

by osterac1999



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: (but she totally made that position for him), (my usual mood nowadays), Fluff, I only tagged the main peeps in this fic, M/M, Pining, Sappy, and jenna really needs an anonymous reviewer, michael can write vv well, michael is Gay and perhaps a bit In Love, tbh every other interaction is clearly platonic don't read into it too much, vv much from michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 08:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12907644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osterac1999/pseuds/osterac1999
Summary: Sitting at the lunch table, absentmindedly sipping on a slushie, and watching Jeremy get mad over the rounds of Uno he was losing was a pretty normal lunch by Michael’s standards. This had become routine since he had been indoctrinated into the popular group, which wasn’t the worst way to spend lunch. The worst way wouldprobablybe sitting alone outside, trying to pretend like you’re a cool, hipster kid instead of somebody with no friends. So, overall, lunches during second semester were a whole lot better than first semester lunches.





	Newspaper Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jamho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamho/gifts).



> THIS IS FOR JAMIE!!! BECAUSE I LOVE THEM AND THEY DESERVE IT!!!!!!!! <3 <3 Hope y'all also enjoy!! vv gay in here
> 
> I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS JAMIE SO I LOVE YOU!!!

Sitting at the lunch table, absentmindedly sipping on a slushie, and watching Jeremy get mad over the rounds of Uno he was losing was a pretty normal lunch by Michael’s standards. This had become routine since he had been indoctrinated into the popular group, which wasn’t the worst way to spend lunch. The worst way would _probably_ be sitting alone outside, trying to pretend like you’re a cool, hipster kid instead of somebody with no friends. So, overall, lunches during second semester were a whole lot better than first semester lunches.

Second semester lunches were pretty surreal, though. Having Jeremy back by his side was a trip, especially during the first few weeks of the semester. What he _didn’t_ miss was the way his heart would twist whenever Jeremy stared through him or coldly walked past him to sit with the popular kids. At least if he did that _this_ time around, there wasn’t a fucked up Siri blocking him from asking what was up. He was just happy he finally had his best friend back.

And, well, his new friends were another bonus to having Jeremy back. He didn’t think he’d actually come to care about the jackass popular kids, but, well. Here he was. He hadn’t expected Brooke to be so sweet, or for Jake to be _actually_ cool and not an asshole-cool. Like the kind of people you see being dicks to the teacher for no reason besides it being “funny”. He wouldn’t have pictured Chloe as someone who actually _did_ care about people behind her bitchy facade, or Jenna being invested in his life for something besides secrets. God bless her, honestly. Chris being a sweetheart was a given, but he hadn’t expected her to drag him completely into musicals. And he _certainly_ hadn’t expected Rich to be as giant a nerd as him and Jeremy, or to actually _apologize_ for the entire thing, or to just make him completely melt when he snorted at a shitty joke-

_Woah there, Mell._

He shook his head and refocused in on the conversation. He could at least give them his attention even if he wasn’t interested in the topic.

Christine was bouncing up and down, practically vibrating in excitement. “Okay! So the spring musical is The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!”

“Why is the name so long?” Michael asked idly, chewing on the end of his straw.

She turned to him and set her hands on the table. “Well- I-” She paused. “I have no clue actually. Maybe they thought it was funny?”

He shrugged and turned his attention back to the table and began spacing out again. He caught a concerned look from Jeremy and shot him a small smile. That seemed to stave off the worry and he went back to talking about the musical with Christine. It wasn’t that he _didn’t_ like what they were talking about, but he figured since he wasn’t auditioning, he didn’t have to be one-hundred percent invested in the conversation. 

He felt a tap on his shoulder and jolted back, hitting his knee against the table. _”Fuck!”_ He rubbed at the spot as he glanced up, catching Jenna’s amused expression. “Did you actually need something or was my knee being sore enough for you?”

She rolled her eyes. “I _do_ need something, the knee banging into the table was just a bonus.” She held out a hand and gestured for him to get up, which he did somewhat confusedly. “I’ve got something to ask you, so let’s go outside.”

Michael shook off Jeremy’s hand and got up slowly, following Jenna outside with a slight trepidation. If it wasn’t something she could just _say_ in front of a crowd, it was dirt. And if it was dirt that had something to do with _him_ , he was fucked. At least she had the decency to expose him in private.

She stopped them in front of a bench and motioned for him to sit down. He nervously fiddled with his sleeve as he sat down. He tried to think back to all the gossip-worthy stuff he had done in the past few weeks. Sadly, there was a lot.

“Join the newspaper-” She started.

“No, I did _not_ suck Dustin Kropp’s dick-” He interrupted, anticipating the worst possible thing he could think of.

_”What?”_ Jenna asked, grabbing onto his shoulders. “Who said that?”

“I- sorry, what?” He blinked and shrunk away from her grip a bit. “I just- no one, Jenna.”

“Why the _fuck_ would you just say that, then?” She squinted at him. “ _Did_ you suck his dick?”

“Well.” He ignored his blush and turned away. “I don’t think that’s the important thing here.”

“Michael Mell, I swear to _God_ -” 

“The paper!” He jumped up and took a few steps away from her. “Why’d you mention that?”

She glared at him. “This isn’t over, Mell. You can’t just spill something like _that_ and expect me to forget it.”

“Well, uh, it never happened so that sucks!” He threw up his hands grandly and shrugged. Why was he such a bad fucking liar?

“Was that a Freudian slip?” She asked, tapping her finger against her chin.

He flushed deeper and buried his head in his hands. “Jenna, _please_ -”

“Fine. We can talk about your impulsive dick sucking later.” She ignored his groan and smiled brightly. “Now! You’re joining the paper.” She had her hands on her hip and she was standing proudly, as if she had just thought up the greatest idea ever. 

“Jenna, babe, why the _fuck_ would I do that?” And, honestly, why would he? He had never shown interest in journalism or even writing in general, so why would she think he’d be interested? He let out a breath and felt a bit of relief that his blush was slowly fading. “I’m not interested in journalism and you know it. I’m not interested in writing about anything.”

“You love theater, right?” Was that meant to be rhetorical?

“Yes.” He deadpanned. 

“ _And_ you have a gigantic gay crush on a theater nerd.” She pointed out, smirking at the blush overtaking his face again. _Fuck._ Could he get a single break today? Thanks. “So, if you join, you can rant like crazy about him. A win-win.”

“He would know it’s me.” He muttered, hiding his face in his hands again.

She made a clicking noise. “Not if it’s anonymous, which it will be.” She pulled his hands away from his face. “It’s a column submitted by an ‘anonymous’ reviewer about the plays and musicals. With the new one coming up, it’s the perfect opportunity to introduce it. _And_ you’ll get free reign to compliment the shit out of Rich, which he’d _love_.”

“Why would- I wouldn’t-” He tried to come up with some excuse, but he fell short. He should’ve known Jenna would figure it out. Though, he wasn’t exactly being _discreet_ about it. He was jumpy and nervous around Rich way too often for it to be anything but a crush. He thanked everything he knew that he could at least keep his cool around Jeremy so he wouldn’t know. He wasn’t exactly sure _what_ he would do or say, but he expected nothing less than jabs at his- frankly- obvious crush. Damn his soft, gooey heart. “Jenna, I can’t write.”

“That is such a fucking lie. I’ve seen _and_ graded your essays. You’re amazing at writing and I’m also not taking no for an answer.” Jenna said with an air of finality. She looked at him expectantly and he debated his options.

To be fair, Michael already knew he wasn’t the worst writer out there. He wouldn’t say he was _amazing_ or anything, but he was decent. And that was fine, but not for a paper. Decent wouldn’t get him anywhere. It wasn’t-

Wait.

That made it sound like he was interested. 

And, well, he couldn’t say the idea _wasn’t_ appealing. Even if no one read it, there was some sort of validation in writing for a paper. And- yeah- writing about Rich a shit ton without him knowing had a sort of thrill to it. Like he could be caught any moment. Which _would_ be true if Rich ever actually read anything except shitty tumblr posts.

It seemed like the perfect plan.

Michael swore under his breath and glanced up toward Jenna, who was grinning widely. It was almost too perfect and, knowing her, she would do her damnedest to keep this entire thing under wraps. It was all too tempting to pass up.

“Jenna…” He began, ignoring her ever-growing grin. “Are you _absolutely sure_ Rich won’t know it’s me?”

She clapped her hands together and grabbed his shoulders again, grip not as tight as before. “Trust me, he won’t know a _thing_.” She tugged at his hand again, beginning to drag him back toward the cafeteria. “I am so excited! You’re gonna add _so much_ to the paper!”

Personally, he didn’t believe that, but he wouldn’t burst Jenna’s bubble. “Totally.” He said simply, allowing himself to be dragged back.

When they rejoined the group, the first person to notice was Rich. And, really, that wasn’t good for Michael’s heart. Or maybe it was. Physically, the thudding of his heart made him a bit lightheaded. Emotionally, he was fucking _living_. He always got this thrill seeing Rich happy, and the way he smiled when he showed back up was a trip. It wasn’t anything _big_ , which was surprising coming from him. Rich was always such a loud and boisterous person, but the little smile he gave Michael felt way more personal than it had any right to be.

He shot him a smile back and rejoined his place next to Jeremy, resolutely ignoring the heat of his face. He tried to get his rapidly fluttering heart under control, but at this point it was a near constant. A bit comforting, too. 

Jenna retook her spot, smiling smugly to herself. So smugly in fact, that Rich felt the need to immediately comment.

“What’s got you so smug?” He asked, leaning over the table to get a better look at her. His comment drew the attention of everyone else and they all turned expectantly toward her.

She waved a hand through the air. “Oh, nothing. Michael’s just helping me with an essay.”

Everyone looked confusedly toward Michael except Brooke and Jeremy, who nodded a bit. They were the only ones besides Jenna who had read his writing and for a moment, he felt a bit of fear. Jeremy- _Jeremy_ had no idea about his crush and would instantly recognize his writing if he got a hand on the article. Brooke _knew_ , of course. He just wasn’t ready for the inevitable teasing about his mega, super, incredibly gay feelings for Rich. Maybe he’d have to destroy every newspaper that got near them.

Christine turned and tapped his hand, shocking him out of his misery. “You write?” She asked, genuinely curious. 

“Uh, yeah.” He said shyly, turning away from them a bit. “Not anything _amazing_ , but good, I guess?”

Jeremy snorted and shoved him gently. “You _are_ amazing! You just refuse to admit it.” He paused and turned to Michael. His stomach dropped and he let out a quiet, “oh no.” 

With an evil gleam in his eye, Jeremy turned back to the group fully, ignoring Michael’s frantic arm flailing. “Did you guys know that, in seventh grade, Michael wrote _Home_ -”

_”No!”_ He yelled, finally putting a hand over his mouth. “We don’t talk about that, you fuck.” He ignored Jeremy’s muffled protests. “ _He_ didn’t say anything. He can’t even speak English.”

That got a little snort out of Rich and Michael’s heart tripled its fluttering. His stupid, _shitty_ joke got him to laugh. He couldn’t handle that. Usually he could, but not today. He quickly released Jeremy, who jolted back in surprise, shooting him a concerned look, which he _ignored_.

He jumped up and glanced toward the clock, letting out a relieved breath when he noticed there was only five minutes of lunch left. “Well, I’d love to stay, but I need to go… print something from the-”

Chloe leaned away from Brooke’s shoulder and squinted at him. “Why didn’t you print it out sooner?” That was what she _actually_ asked, but the underlying tone was more like _why do you want to leave so bad?_

He laughed awkwardly and tensed when Jeremy grabbed his arm. “I forgot?” His voice was a little too high for his liking. He caught Rich’s eyes and noticed the concern in them. _Fuck._

He grabbed Jeremy’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly, dropping it a moment later. He collected his stuff and rushed out of the cafeteria, stopping for a moment outside the doors to catch his breath. 

_Fuck._

He put his head in hands and let out a steadying breath. What was wrong with him? Normally he was _fine_ \- he wasn’t a stuttering, fluttering mess. Well. Fine was subjective and dumb and completely ridiculous because he was crushing _so hard_ on Rich _holy shit_. He couldn’t play it off anymore and really, he never had. Before, he could at least pretend it wasn’t so completely overwhelming. 

Why the fuck did Rich laughing at a joke make him react like that? He’s told shittier ones and better ones and had gotten the same reaction, so why-

“Hey, are you good?” Someone asked, jolting Michael out of his ever spiralling thoughts. He glanced away from his hands and caught Rich’s eyes. 

His throat felt incredibly dry and he couldn’t hold his gaze for longer than ten seconds. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m good.” When had his voice gotten so _hoarse_?

Rich pursed his lips. “I don’t believe that, but-” He paused, reaching for Michael’s hand. Maybe he’d pass out from this sudden ( _ever present_ ) lightheadedness. He was going to _melt_. “You don’t have to tell me shit if you don’t want to. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. For me and everyone else.” He said quickly, dropping his eyes but not Michael’s hand. He had a feeling that the last part was added haphazardly. _That_ definitely wasn’t good for his heart.

A quiet _oh_ escaped him and he bit his lip. It still felt weird that he more people caring about him. “That’s… really sweet.” He said honestly. “Thanks.” He added quietly, the word just barely escaping him.

The soft smile Rich gave him was honestly a blessing. What had he done to deserve this. “Of course. I- _we_ all care about you.” Had Michael misheard or did he say ‘I’ first? Before he could replay the sentence, Rich released his hand and said, “you’d better go print off that… whatever you’re printing.”

He pushed him slightly down the hallway and gave a thumbs up, running back to their friends with the last two minutes of lunch remaining. He was frozen in the hallway, contemplating screaming or heading to his next class. Seeing as screaming was a bit disruptive, he settled for dazedly walking to his English class.

Fuck Rich and his stupidly sweet gestures and ridiculously gorgeous face. 

_God_ , he was too gay for this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!!! I loved writing this even if it took me for-fucking-ever (sorry jamie...) <3 <3
> 
> (I delayed this fic a bit because of another fic and aubpeigb3w NOW IT'S DONE!!)
> 
> If you wanna Screech with me on tumblr, mine is @cuddlehoe


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